Birds
by kaliawai512
Summary: He really should have suspected something when Yugi called him out. But he didn't. And all he registered was his own helplessness when he was thrown into the body, only several meters away from Téa Gardner. Inspired by a single screencap from Episode 53.


**Hi, everyone! Everyone reading this is probably completely unfamiliar with me, since I've never written YuGiOh stuff before. Hope you like this? It's just a little oneshot that popped into my head when I was rewatching Episode 53 (well, actually, I was watching Episode 25 of The Abridged Series … and saw this screencap that **_**reminded **_**me of Episode 53). Hopefully, by the time this story is over, you'll know what screencap I'm talking about.**

**Essentially, this is based on the English dub (meaning "Mazaki Anzu" is "Téa Gardner" here) – I watch and actually enjoy both the English and Japanese anime for completely different reasons, but I was raised on the dub, so that's what tends to stick when I write. I tried to keep Yami as in-character to his English personality as possible, but his somewhat "younger" Japanese personality tends to just slip in. Plus, it's fun to mix serious and regal with, well, tinges of slight immaturity.**

**There were no pairings intended when I wrote this, so it can all be taken as friendship (what I was trying to write when I wrote this). But if you like, you are perfectly free to read this as containing hints of Revolutionshipping (Yami/Téa) and/or Peachshipping (Yugi/Téa) (**_**heck, you're free to read whatever you want into this … you're the reader!**_**). Again, though, I intended just friendship, so don't run away just yet, anti-shippers.**

**For the record, you can read vague romantic undertones into almost **_**everything **_**I write,**** simply because I tend to describe a lot of friendships in great emotion and detail. And apparently if there's a lot of emotion and detail in a relationship, the world says it must be romantic. I don't exactly agree, but … hm. *shrugs***

**No warnings for this fic. Unless the idea of Yami and Téa having any sort of friendly relationship offends you. And the minor-est of minor violence, but I'm really not even sure this counts as such. You'll … see what I mean in a minute.**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy my first little attempt at a YuGiOh fanfic! Please leave a review and let me know what you think. Reviews make my day!**

Birds

Yami hadn't particularly minded when he materialized that morning to find Yugi dressed up in a different outfit than usual, trying on accessories in front of the mirror. Yugi so rarely did anything interesting with their—_his_—clothes, and it was getting tiresome to see him wear that same old school uniform every day.

He wasn't really sure why he cared. But along with protecting him and helping him learn and grow, some part of Yami had decided along the way that it was his job to make sure Yugi looked cool every once in a while.

When he had accidentally thought that a little too loud a couple of weeks before and Yugi had heard it over the mind link, the boy had insisted that whatever fashion sense Yami had was probably at least a few thousand years out of date.

Yami had just frowned and retreated to the Puzzle until he could think of a suitable comeback.

Eventually Yugi called him out again to apologize, and he decided thinking of a comeback just wasn't worth it.

Not that he couldn't have come up with one if he had wanted to, of course.

But today, for once, Yugi had gotten dressed up of his own volition, in all black with plenty of accessories. It wasn't what Yami would have chosen—he probably would have decorated the shirt a little and added another bracelet or two and maybe even something to replace the worn leather buckle around his neck—and he still didn't think it was especially _cool_, but it was a start.

And of course, Yugi had given Yami every impression that _he_ was going to get to wear that new outfit in a duel—after all, what other "surprise" could Yugi have for him? New clothes and dueling. Sounded like a good day to him.

He should have suspected something when Yugi closed off the mind link for parts of the morning, as if trying to keep some very specific information out of reach.

He _really _should have suspected something when Yugi called him out when he had only left the house ten minutes earlier, surely too quickly for him to arrive at a dueling platform.

But of course, he didn't. And all he registered was his own helplessness when he was pulled out of the Puzzle to stand on the sidewalk in the new clothes and accessories, only several meters away from Téa Gardner.

With no dueling platform.

And no cards laid out.

And no _opponent._

Now that he was calmer, though, when he remembered his then-instinctual reaction of shouting at the Puzzle around his neck, in public, he couldn't stop the faint tinge of pink from touching his cheeks.

He just hoped Téa hadn't been watching him too closely today, because he was remembering that incident a _lot._

"Uh … hey? You okay in there?"

Like right now.

Oh, blast it, she had seen him blushing again.

He turned toward her from his spot on the worn park bench and tried to preserve what little dignity he had left.

"Hm? Oh. Yes, Téa, I'm fine."

A blind monkey could have seen she didn't buy it.

He leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees and resting his arms across one another, trying to distract his attention—and hers—away from himself. He scrunched his eyebrows and pointed at the strange pale substance in her hand. "What is that?"

"This?" Téa blinked, glanced at her palm, and broke out into such a wide grin that it almost scared him. "Bird seed. You know, to feed the birds?"

Yami blinked very slowly.

"Birds in this city are unable to gather their own food?"

A pause. Another grin, and this time a giggle. Yami willed the blood not to rush to his cheeks.

But Téa was still smiling at him, and she kept smiling as she looked away to throw a pinch of the "bird seed" out onto the path. "No, they can feed themselves. But this way you can get them to come to you. And they get a snack! See?"

For the first time, Yami noticed how each time she tossed a bit of the seed to the ground, a small flock of five or six gray pigeons—was that what Yugi had called them?—descended upon the substance like Joey and Tristan when they were given a table full of desserts. They pecked the seed and shoved at each other, a few of them flying away when they were done, but others stayed, waiting patiently, hopping about, as if expecting Téa to feed them again.

He kept his eyes on the birds, observing their strange behavior as if he had never seen anything like it before—which he doubted he had, for though he knew little about his past, he really didn't think they had such practices in ancient Egypt. Or pigeons. He didn't look, but he could feel Téa smiling as she tossed two more pinches of bird seed out for the winged creatures, and his attention was fully captivated when about ten more pigeons dove down to enjoy their feast.

Yami finally looked up when he heard the faint sound of a muffled giggle. He turned his head just enough to see Téa, now settled down on the ground with her legs tucked under her, her hand over her mouth, the familiar noises of stifled laughter escaping through her fingers.

He raised one eyebrow after a moment when she didn't stop. "What is so funny?"

Her eyes were squeezed shut, her hand now clamped tighter over her mouth. He wondered vaguely if she was trying to suffocate herself. But that worry was alleviated—and his confusion doubled—when she finally burst, and her hand flew away from her mouth, letting out a borderline-ridiculous laugh, scaring several of the birds back into the air.

"Your … your _face!"_

Yami frowned and his eyebrows crinkled, his eyes wide and blinking. "My … face?"

"I'm _sorry, _but you had this look on your face like you've never seen a bird before and … oh, gosh, I wish I had a _camera!"_

Téa had always struck Yami as the gentler type, at least most of the time—and when she wasn't dealing with an immature Joey or Tristan. And the last thing he would have expected was for someone like her to burst out laughing at his face.

But soon he found himself wondering _what _exactly his face had looked like. Then he was trying to keep back a faint blush, and he brushed off the incident as something to consult Yugi about later.

He looked back to Téa, who seemed to finally have gotten her laughter under control, and was now just fighting back a few remaining giggles. He had to admit, when he was able to forget his own embarrassment, he liked it when she laughed. It … cheered him up, in its own small way.

Yami smiled a very tiny smile.

It was times like these when he understood in full what Yugi saw in this girl. She was a true friend, above anything else. But she was full of light. Just like Yugi. Two sources of light belonged together. Drawn to one another like two glimmering stars on a dark cloudy night.

That, and the way she was laughing so uncontrollably reminded him all too much of the day Yugi had let him get the body dressed all by himself for the first time, and he had ended up putting his shoes on the wrong feet, his pants on backwards, forgot the socks entirely, and hung his jacket around his shoulders like a cape.

Well, perhaps the shoes and the socks and the pants were messed up, but he still didn't understand what Yugi had found so fall-to-the-floor funny about the cape.

He was still smiling to himself when he realized Téa was holding her other hand out toward him, this one clutching a small white bag.

"Here. You try."

Yami didn't even _want _to know what his face looked like then.

"… try?" he repeated, as if this was one of the words his apparently ancient vocabulary hadn't seen fit to equip him with.

Téa didn't laugh, though he had expected her to. "Feed the birds. Come on, don't be shy, you'll do great!"

Yami just stayed put on the bench, staring at the bag like he would an alien life form.

This time she huffed, a mix of slight annoyance and something akin to amusement. "Come on! You can win duels in the Shadow Realm but you can't feed birds in the park? Give it a try! I thought you never backed down from a challenge!"

And that was the end of it.

Darn, Téa knew him well.

He stood up from the bench without another word. His steps were still hesitant, even though his determination soared at the sound of a challenge. He let her place the little bag in his palm from her spot on the ground. He turned around, and he could have sworn he saw her smirking out of the corner of his eye.

Next time, no matter what, when Yugi called him out for a "surprise," Yami was staying right where he was in the sanctity of the Puzzle.

Most of the birds had already left, likely still frightened from Téa's laughter. He didn't really blame them for that. Only two remained, one searching for spare crumbs, and one that stood near him, looking up at him with its small head cocked to the side, as if asking why he wasn't feeding it yet.

He didn't dare look back at Téa and show the uncertainty he knew was on his face, and though the thought crossed his mind to try to get Yugi to take over for him, he quickly shooed it aside and ordered himself to stop being so pitiful. Besides, Téa had a point—if he could defeat the creator of Duel Monsters in a Shadow Game but couldn't even feed a few harmless birds, he would never be able to live it down.

Scratch that: _Yugi _would never let him live it down.

He squeezed the bag in his hand a bit tighter, pretending it was his deck, and reached his fingers in to gather a pinch of bird seed, pretending with all his might that it was a card. Perhaps the Dark Magician. Though pretending scratchy, small, apparently edible pebbles were his favorite card was hardly an easy task, even for him.

He drew in a deep breath, gathering all the bravery he possessed. He wagered a glance at Téa, and found her still sitting on her legs, her face cradled in her hands, staring at two birds that had landed in front of her, and though she didn't meet his eyes, he knew she was watching him. He just _knew _it.

Yami pressed his lips together and tossed the bird seed to the path below him like he was laying a card face down on the field.

And then, in one split instant, they struck.

_Birds._

All at once, like he had triggered some dormant instinct within them, all the pigeons in the area flocked to him. Several flocked to the food, yes. Then a few flocked to his feet. Two landed on his wrist.

And one landed on his _head._

In that moment, Yami lost every iota of the dignity he had tried so hard to preserve. He flailed his arms and shuffled his feet, shaking his head to try and remove that rotten pigeon that had nested right behind his blonde bangs. He didn't even want to imagine the expression on his face as he stepped back and forth, kicking his legs, waving his hands.

The birds on his arm climbed around his wrist and fingers, struggling to get at the little bag in his hand. He squeezed it tighter and scowled at them and the bird on his head with all the rage and determination he would show a challenger in a duel, his violet eyes burning.

At a group of pigeons that had made a new home out of his limbs.

His toughest opponents yet.

He reached up with the hand holding the bird seed—and the two ever-persistent birds—to aim a weak smack at the pigeon that remained stuck to his head as if someone had glued it there. The bird's claws dug into his hair even as he moved about, swatting at it like a child trying to chase the wind.

At last, in the hardest whack he could manage, the large gray bird gave in and detached itself from his hair, spreading its wings and flapping off in disgust with its failed nesting ground.

Yami's smirk of triumph likely would have frightened Yugi, had he been watching.

But any pride he had managed to regain disappeared in the very next second, when, in the joy of his success, Yami released his tight grip on the tiny white bag.

And the contents of said tiny white bag came pouring down on his head.

It was like someone had set off a bomb. A bomb that was silent for a few precious seconds, ticking, warning, giving him just a moment to realize what he had done and to dread the consequences of the inevitability that was to come.

And then it blew.

Every bird in the vicinity came soaring down at him like kamikaze pilots, dive-bombing and swooping far out of their way to aim themselves at the pointy mess that was his hair. Or, in the eyes of the birds, their lunch.

No longer did any thought of pride or dignity cross Yami's mind. Now, the only thing he registered was flailing and spinning and swatting and doing all he could to keep from being suffocated by the flurry of gray wings that now surrounded him. It was like every bird in the city had decided that his head was now an all-you-can-eat buffet, and the blonde bangs in front of his face were the main course.

He groaned and sputtered and was just about ready to mind crush every single one of those accursed creatures into the furthest depths of the Shadow Realm, when, all in one instant, it stopped.

The incessant pecking and dive-bombing ceased. The flutter of wings changed direction and dove away from him, like another force was pulling them toward it, something stronger than the spiky tri-colored hair full of their favorite snack.

For a moment, Yami remained there, eyes squeezed shut, a mixture of a grimace and an expression of horror and fear painted on his face, his arms up to defend himself, and one foot still in the air from pausing in the middle of flailing his legs.

Blinking, heart growing stunned and confused at the realization, Yami finally dared to look.

Standing a couple of meters away was Téa, her arm outstretched to her side and her fingers spread. Without sparing him a glance, she pulled back her hand, scooped some more bird seed out of her other palm, and tossed it away from her as far as she could, the seed scattering in all directions. Once again, the birds flew toward their meal, all of them now gone, leaving the teenager and the ancient spirit standing alone on the path, frozen in their spots.

Yami still did not move, as if he feared that once he did, the birds would be reminded that he existed, and would be once more inclined to kamikaze-pilot attack his face. But the birds did not return. They remained preoccupied by the simple yet ingenious distraction concocted by someone who knew this city—and its birds—better than he really thought someone should.

Yami blinked when Téa at last turned her head to look at him. She did not break down laughing. She did not fall to her knees clutching her stomach from the sheer humor of it all.

But from the way her face contorted as she put forward every valiant effort not to crack up, Yami was very, very grateful that Yugi seemed to be giving him some privacy.

He just hoped Téa would be merciful enough not to repeat this to the boy tomorrow.

Finally, in the sudden realization of what exactly Téa was trying not to laugh _at, _Yami regained his regal composure in an instant. A second later he stood tall and confident, his arms at his sides, his feet firmly on the ground, his head straight.

And with little bits of birdseed still stuck in his spiky hair.

Téa giggled, but nothing more. Yami tried very, _very _hard not to blush.

"So, uh," Téa began, and he could see all too easily that she was embarrassed as well, though he couldn't figure out why—and besides, he wasn't _embarrassed, _he was _flustered. _And that was only natural for one in his position. Téa shot him a small grin. "How about we keep on going? There's a whole lot more I have left to show you today!"

Yami was silent for a moment before nodding, slow at first, and then more decisively, back in character once again. "Yes. Yes, that sounds like a good idea."

She nodded as well. She remained still for a moment, then, glancing at her hand, she tossed the last bit of the bird seed far off into the grass and started toward him, her face wearing that same eager expression he had come to know and be baffled by so much.

He turned to follow her, again ready to let her lead the way on their little adventure, or whatever it was to be called.

But Téa paused right as she stood in front of him. She looked at him, close to where he stood, her eyes vaguely wide, her mouth clamped shut. He looked back at her, his arms stiff at his side. Waiting in the moment of silence.

He watched as a soft blush came to her cheeks, as well as the slightest hint of a smile. A smile she tried to hide. He dared, for a moment, to try to even think of what in the world might cause her to look the way she did in that instant …

… before she reached out one hand and brushed it twice over his head, sending more bits of bird seed flying than he had even thought had been in the bag in the first place.

If this day could have gotten any _more _humiliating, he really would have liked to know how.

Téa smiled a little wider, and for a moment he was sure she was going to laugh at him. If he hadn't been _him, he _probably would have laughed at himself. But she didn't. She just smiled.

"You should act this way around Yugi more," she muttered, only just loud enough for him to hear, as if she wasn't even certain she wanted to say it.

Yami blinked. "… what … way?"

Téa's smile grew. Almost imperceptively, but enough so he could tell, or at least imagine he could tell. "Less like some all-knowing mentor, and more like a friend."

"A … friend?" Yami asked, his voice very quiet, very hesitant.

She reached out and brushed one last bit of bird seed from his spikes. "Yeah. A friend. You're Yugi's friend. And … and ours, too."

And he was really wasn't sure if there was more of a blush on her cheeks or on his.

Silence fell over the pair for a moment, the birds chirping in the distance, the faint sounds of cars and people bustling about far off and fading. For that moment, they looked at one another, until Téa finally grinned and turned to continue on her way.

"Come on! I hear there's this great new movie playing, and we still have to get tickets!"

Yami stood there for a second longer, watching her walk off along the path. He watched her pick up a bit of a bounce in her step, the sun reflecting off of her, glowing like a light that would help them all move forward in the long and treacherous journey ahead. A light that reassured them that no matter what was to come, the bond they all shared would forever remain.

The tiniest of smiles came to Yami's face as he followed her back toward the city.

Perhaps Yugi's little "surprise" wasn't so bad after all.


End file.
